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ALL eyes are on Las Vegas tomorrow night with hundreds of private jets expected to descend on Sin City but the boxing extravaganza actually gets underway tonight in Harare when mixed martial artists and boxing collide.
Leading aircraft charter specialist, Air Charter Service, are expecting a huge number of private jets from far and wide to flood into Las Vegas this weekend to see the ‘most valuable fight of all time’ between undefeated former world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC Champion Conor McGregor.
The city’s four main airports — McCarran, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City — are due to see a massive spike in activity for the unique and controversial bout.
Andy Christie, group director of Private Jets at Air Charter Service, said:
“For the fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd 2015, dubbed the ‘fight of the century’ at the time, the airports were jam-packed. Photos of McCarran Airport went viral as the taxiway had to be used as a parking lot for private jets.
‘’According to industry figures, provided by WingX, there were almost 500 arrivals on private aircraft on the 1st and 2nd May 2015 at McCarran and the three smaller airports serving Las Vegas – compared to 121 on the same dates in 2016 and 136 earlier this year.”
With some ringside seats at this weekend’s fight reportedly selling at more than $100,000, Christie is confident that tomorrow’s event may even top the traffic two years ago.
“Private jets are expected to be the preferred mode of transport for a relatively high percentage of the 18,000-strong crowd. We are certainly flying in more than we did two years ago – at the last count, we had aircraft booked for around four times as many people.
“With such high demand, it is no wonder airport authorities in the region released statements earlier this week requesting that owners and airlines make parking reservations ahead of time.” McCarran airport spokeswoma.
And, in Harare tonight, a similar show, though without the private jets and all the razzmatazz, will get underway at Raibow Towers when the boxing family comes together for the eight action-packed match-ups, including Zimbabwean cruiserweight Sting Gonarenda and heavyweight Elvis Moyo in two WBF Africa Championship bouts.
This event falls within the Friday Fight Night Pan African boxing series, a collaboration between Kalakoda Promotions and Kwesé Sport, which is shaking up the status quo of boxing across the continent.
The event will be broadcast to some 38 countries with a viewership in the region of 200million viewers on Kwesé Sports 1, Kwesé Free Sports, in countries that receive the Kwese signal, Soweto TV (Channel 251) and streamed globally on the Kwesé mobile app.
The undercard is stacked with some of the most talented fighters in Africa, including WBC cruiserweight contender Junior Makabu, who is looking to rebuild after loss to Tony Bellew at Goodison Park in England last year, as well as local favourite Tinashe Mwadziwana.
‘’The event is shaping up to be something special; it’s been a while since Zimbabwean fight fans have witnessed a boxing event of this magnitude,” Kalakoda Promotions marketing director Jeremy Bean says.
“The Rainbow Towers conference centre is a spectacular venue; we have the bill, the venue and the right partnerships in place, and discussions are already underway to make this a regular item on the Harare sporting calendar.”
Local partners ZiFM bring a celebrity and music dimension to the event – coupled with the regular Friday Fight Night Series resident DJ Switch – and performances from local artists ensures a fusion of boxing and pop culture.
FIGHT CARD
Vacant WBF Africa Heavyweight Title Bout (10 rounds) Elvis Moyo (Zimbabwe) vs Bernard Adie (Kenya)
International Cruiserweight Bout (8 rounds) Ilunga Makabu Jr (DR Congo) vs Mussa Ajibu (Malawi)
Vacant WBF Africa Cruiserweight Title Bout (10 rounds) Sting Gonorenda (Zimbabwe) vs Kamanji Ramadan (Tanzania)
International Light Welterweight Bout (8 rounds) Wilson Masamba (Malawi) vs Lawrence Moyo (Zimbabwe)
International Lightweight Bout (8 rounds) Felix Vengenayi (Zimbabwe) vs George Otieno (Kenya)
International Super Middleweight Bout (6 rounds) Nicola Mutondara (Zimbabwe) vs Alick Mweda (Malawi)
Bantamweight Bout (6 rounds) Tinashe Mudshadwana (Zimbabwe) vs Tapua Tembo (Zimbabwe)
Middleweight Bout (4 rounds) Freeman Musariri (Zimbabwe) vs Liberty Muwahi (Zimbabwe)
Light Welterweight Bout (4 rounds) Last Magare (Zimbabwe) vs Phisidza Musaryrie (Zimbabwe). — Sports Reporter/Kwese Sport
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